Speech by David Brown

Speech Type: Groom
Speech Creator: David Brown
Speech Date: Dec 2009

Intro
My wife and I…would like to thank you for joining us today to celebrate our marriage! We know many of you have travelled a long way to be here with us so we hope that today is as enjoyable for you as it is special to us.
Someone once said that a good speech has both a good beginning and a good ending. A great speech, however, keeps both of these very close together…
It's a privilege to be in the company of so many people that are important in our lives and we're delighted to welcome you here to share our special day with us. It's great to see you all as it would not have been the same without you.
As there are a number of toasts in my speech, I'd like to make sure that all of you have your glasses fully charged…
So onto the toasts & thank yous!

To Roger and Trisha
Of course I haven't just gained a wife today, but also a family. Thank you to all of them for making me feel so welcome. Most of all, thank you for bringing Sharon up to be the woman that I have married today.
In particular, I would like to thank Roger and Trisha for all their love and support. I genuinely could not have asked for nicer in-laws and you have made me feel like a part of the family from day one, even after the board games incidents. I have never had the chance to say thank you properly – so thank you.
I would also like to thank Tricia for making our cake that we shall all enjoy later.
As a token of our appreciation please accept these gifts and these flowers.
To Roger, I'd like to thank you for giving away Sharon this morning so willingly, a bit too willingly if you ask me…
So, Ladies and Gentleman please raise your glasses in a toast to my new in-laws…Roger and Tricia!
TOAST….ROGER AND TRISHA

To Robert and Jan
I would also like to thank my parents for raising me the way they did, guiding me and steering me in the right direction. I am sure that you will all agree they have done a wonderful job.

Looking back as an adult I understand the sacrifices that you both made for me. As a child you once told me that you had a choice between children or a car, I'm sorry, Dad, that you never did get the Morgan. Without you both, I would not be here where I am today…standing next to my beautiful wife!

Mum, as a token of our appreciation please accept this gift and these flowers.

Ladies and Gentleman, please raise your glasses, to my parents, Robert and Jan.

TOAST….ROBERT AND JAN

To the Bridesmaids and Ushers
No wedding would be complete without ushers, Andrew, Anthony, Kevin, Tom, Gary and James and the bridesmaids, Gemma, Anne, Abby and Amy. I'm sure you all agree that they all look beautiful, and so do the bridesmaids.
Thank you for helping out with the wedding and making sure Sharon didn't run off at the last minute.
TOAST….THE USHERS AND BRIDESMAIDS
Before I turn my attention to Sharon, I also have a few quick thankyou's…
Our photographers – David and Chris
Our florist – Lorraine
The caterers – Kevin and Nina and their team
Ben at Commissioner's House and his staff
Sharon
I now come to the most important person in my life…….
Sharon, in the immortal words of Papa Lazarouu from TV's League of Gentlemen…You're my wife now…
What can I say…beautiful, intelligent, sporty, successful, charismatic, funny…dare I say sexy?…these are all qualities that Sharon looked for in a man. Fortunately, she found me…
Before I proposed to Sharon, I did put a lot of thought into what would make a good marriage. I did some research, I asked around, I even looked on the internet…
There were, of course, some knockers…
Some said that marriage wasn't just a word, but a sentence. Others that it consisted of 3 rings, the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffering…
Homer once said “There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends”.
That must have been in a Simpson's episode that I had missed…
I prefer the adage that “You don't marry the person you can live with you marry the person you cannot live without”.
Well, after living “in sin” with Sharon for over a year now I know that I've married the right person. I'm so glad that I can call you my beautiful wife.

But how to express my love on our wedding day, I thought…
Through the artistry of mime perhaps?
Or the medium of modern interpretative dance?
Ah no, I thought…poetry….
In the words of Robert C. O. Benjamin 1855-1900….
There are none so happy as my love and I,
None so joyous, blythe and free
The reason is, that I love her,
And the reason is, she loves me.

There are none so sweet as my own fond love
None so beautious or true
Her equal I could never find,
Though I search the whole world through.

There's no love so true as my lady sweet
None so constant to its troth
There's naught on earth like her so dear,
No queen her equal in her worth.

So there's none so happy as my love and I
None so blissful, blythe and free,
And the reason is that I am hers,
And she, in truth, belongs to me.

TOAST……TO THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE….MY WIFE…SHARON

The Best Man
So, that's enough from me, it now gives me very great pleasure to hand over to my best man.
Matthew has done an excellent job helping out today, providing moral support, and I am so proud to have him as my best man.
Some say, Matt lives in a parallel universe which causes him to invent fanciful stories. He really does believe these stories to be true and I thank you for humouring him during his speech!
Given this great build up, I would appreciate it if he would take it easy on me.
Thanks again to all of you for celebrating with us today.
I give you…The Best Man…